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Peachtree Rock Preserve

©Harold Malde
Peachtree Rock

Why You Should Visit
Peachtree Rock Preserve is named for the large sandstone formation (shaped like an upside-down pyramid) that the visitor sees immediately upon entering the preserve.  The rock's strange configuration is a result of the erosion of lower layers of rock and sand, with the upper layers of hard, coarse-grained sandstone eroding at a slower rate.  A small waterfall tumbling into a pool, the only cascade in the South Carolina sandhills or coastal plain, is another treasure found here. 

Location
Lexington County, near Edmund in the Midlands of South Carolina

Size
305 acres

How to Prepare for Your Visit
Wear walking shoes or hiking boots.  Animals permitted only if on a leash.  Please do not touch or climb on Peachtree Rock.

Directions
From Columbia:

  • Take Highway 215 (302/Edmund Hwy) south, past the airport toward Edmund.
  • Travel until S.C. Highway 6 veers off to the left towards Swansea.
  • Follow Highway 6 across railroad overpass for 0.5 mile.
  • Turn left onto Peachtree Rock Road after large Bethel United Methodist Church sign.
  • The parking area is immediately on your right.
  • Before leaving the car, make sure it is locked and all valuables inside are hidden from view, as the lot is unguarded.
  • From the parking area, blue and orange markers lead you to the rock.  Then the single orange dots mark a  0.5 mile trail and the single blue dots mark a 1.5 mile trail.  

What to See: Plants
Diverse plant communities ranging from bogs to xeric sandhill scrub can be found in  Peachtree Rock Preserve.  The area harbors a swamp tupelo-evergreen shrub bog and a longleaf pine ecosystem.  Typical sandhill scrub vegetation, pines, turkey oaks and sparkleberry bushes are present in abundance on the preserve.  The federally endangered Rayner's blueberry is found growing on the seepage slope within the longleaf pine forest.

The visitor can observe moisture-loving plants, including the mountain laurel and the crane-fly orchid.  The latter's leaves are visible during winter and spring.  The flowering spike, which is 4 to 20 inches tall, appears during September.  Near the waterfall several fern communities can be observed, and maple-leafed viburnum grows in abundance here.  Sand myrtles, titi and sweet pepper bush dominate the seepage slopes.  Two contrasting plant communities can be noted here: the shade and moisture-loving galax, normally found only in cool mountain environments, and Solidago pauciflosculosa, a unique woody goldenrod, which grows on drier slopes.

What to See: Animals
Many different animals lurk amidst the undergrowth at Peachtree Rock Preserve, including Northern red salamanders, skinks, antlions and several species of beetles.  In the forest surrounding the trail, the chirping of birds and a flash of wings may reveal a chickadee, titmouse, cardinal, even a yellow-billed cuckoo or red-cockaded woodpecker. 

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
Peachtree Rock Preserve was formerly used as a research site by the University of South Carolina Biology Department.  The Conservancy purchased this site because of its geological and biological significance.

What the Conservancy is Doing
A local volunteer maintains Peachtree Rock Preserve.  The Conservancy periodically performs prescribed fires at the Preserve to manage the longleaf pine communities.